Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 -
Peppe! Best wishes

Well I was wrong. Again. And I am surpised.

In my last post - based around episodes 16 and 17 - I guessed that the new guy - an Italian - Peppe - was not going to fail to attract a woman in the house in the way that his predecessors had. But between episodes 21 to 24 we watched the potential for relationship between Peppe and Haruka disappear. An in the end Peppe and Haruka left the house - an unlike Risako and Kenny - with no hope of getting together.

What happened?

The short answer to that - is this: nothing.

Everything was explained in a brief but very enlightening discussion between Haruka and Emika (in episode 22) where the girls are cooking together. The following excerpt from their discussion is necessary reading for all men:

Emika: “What does it really mean to be into someone? I don’t even know anymore.”

Haruka: “I guess if you can imagine making out with them and stuff.”

Emika: “That is a pretty big defining factor”

Haruka: “In the end if you would sleep with them”

Emika: “It really comes down to if you would be physical with them”

Haruka: “Yep”

Haruka: “They can be a great person, yet sometimes you just can’t see them as a man. They end up being a cool person who’s just a friend”

Then soon, after: Haruka: “Peppe, feels like a great friend to have around. I haven’t really seen him in a situation where he seems super manly…”

That’s pretty much it. Peppe is in the friend-zone. Those of us who have found ourselves there know it is a difficult place to get out of.

Peppe does take Haruka out on another date after this - to a beautiful lake. He tries to make a move by offering her his jacket - which fails. He does the ‘confession of feelings’ thing that seems to be a part of this show. Is this a Japanese thing? It achieves nothing - not just in this situation but in every other situation between the guys and girls on this show. And he asks for and gets another date.

But the situation on the next date in episode 24 is impossible. The reality of this show is that the participants can watch the past episodes or check comments on social media about the episodes. And if Peppe made the mistake of watching episode 22 he will know that Haruka doesn’t see him as masculine. So his romantic and expensive date on the top floor of some fancy Tokyo hotel is just a waste of time and money. Before the date we see Peppe waiting with a bunch of flowers. But we can clearly see that he is a broken man. His confidence is gone. After the date, they head home together and sit on the lounge together. And again there is a brief moment where Peppe could have gone in for a kiss - but he doesn’t.

And that’s it then for Haruka and Peppe.

Of course - the presence of cameras and the knowledge that there is a panel and an international audience (me included :-)) critiquing your moves isn’t going to make it any easier for a nervous guy.

Soon after they both decide to leave the house.

So what can we learn from this? As men it can seem pretty frustrating and scary. If a man as good looking, talented and initially confident as Peppe can’t win his girl over then what hope is there for the rest of us?

Well the lesson seems clear I think guys: Go for the kiss at the first opportunity that you can. If you are on a lounge together and there is no handbag between you and her, she hasn’t put a cushion on her lap and she is matching eye contact with you it is time to start making some moves. If she isn’t ready, she will know how to reject an attempt to kiss her. Act like nothing has happened and continue the conversation.

A woman will forgive an attempt to kiss her when she wasn’t quite ready. But she won’t forgive a failure to try when she was.

And that’s not a conscious thing. It’s built into the emotional wiring of a woman.

In Peppe’s case, he needed to kiss her (or try to kiss her) on their very first romantic time together when they were on the balcony and he made her the Orange cocktail - right back in episode 16. Maybe he did and she rejected him and the cameras cut that out. But the producer’s didn’t cut out Kenny’s awkward and failed attempts to kiss Risako after he had left it way too late.

So the evidence from Ruka with Risako, Kenny with Haruka, Kenny with Risako and now Peppe with Haruka shows this:

• lots of dating across tables achieves nothing
• confessions of feelings achieves nothing
• leaving attempts to become physical (eg. going for a kiss) for weeks on end leads nowhere

We have yet to see any evidence that going in for a kiss as soon as she might be ready does any harm - because it doesn’t look like any of the men have tried - even though the opportunity was there - often clearly.

What’s next? 4 men have left the house now without what they came for. Ryo remains and two new guys will enter and a new girl.

Not sure if I will be writing about part 3. Something really sad happens and so, gotta question if it is appropriate to delve too much further.

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 is on Netflix.

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 -
Peppe!

Kenny and Risako have gone.

Emika and Peppe have turned up to replace them.

Emika is a 21 year old student with an extraodinary figure.

Peppe is Italian, 27 years old and a Manga artist. You have to admire a man who has left his country, spent 4 years learning Japanese and is building a career around a uniquely Japanese art form.

Earlier in his interactions he introduces himself to one of the girls as ‘not a sleazy pick up artist’. Well he doesn’t come across as sleazy - but I will have more to say about the ‘pick up artist’ comment later on.

This guy is amazing.

Nobody else knows what to do with poor young Ruka. Ruka is seriously lacking in basic life skills and maturity. Peppe has taken him under his wing and is teaching him to cook. That’s confidence, maturity and just being a super cool dude.

As for the women - well unlike Kenny - Peppe seems to have this well under control. In episode 16 he begins his seduction of Haruka with his cocktail making skills and a shared drink on the balcony. In episode 17, he continues by taking Haruka to the games room to play Pokemon - almost exactly the advice I had for Kenny. Immediately after that - and in Haruka’s presence he asks Emika out on a date. That’s confidence, counter-intuititive - and I suspect won’t hurt his changes with Haruka at all.

My bet is that unlike the other 3 guys in the house his dates won’t end up being a friendly chat across a dining table.

This guy is so smooth. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 is on Netflix.

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 -
Happily Ever After!

Wow! I was wrong.

At the end of episode 13 I thought the Kenny had blown it with Risako. I really felt for him - this was a blow that he might carry with him for a very long time.

And yet - at the end of episode 14 Risako ends up leaving the house with Kenny with the intention of travelling with him and getting to know him better. That is certainly a lot better than nothing at all which is what it was looking like not so long ago.

How did he rescue success from imminent failure? It seemed to be a love song that he wrote and performed for her that swung it. I do wonder too how much the impact of the whole thing happening in a fishbowl had to do with it. Also for Risako there were no other romantic / sexual prospects in the house and she wasn’t getting on all that well with the other women there. So it would make sense for her to leave when Kenny left.

It’s great that Kenny was able to rescue the situation. However, I don’t think there is any doubt that it would have been a whole lot easier if he had just kissed her when they were watching movies together on the balcony.

Oh well. That was fascinating. Opens up the place for two new house mates.

Risako in particular will be missed. She had a lot of spunk.

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 is on Netflix.

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 -
Kenny - Tragedy

Damn.

It’s a tragedy.

I thought at the end of episode 12 that Kenny was still in with a chance with Rikaso - despite his failure to make a move earlier.

Sadly however at the beginning of episode 13, Rikaso turns him down.

Her explanation on the surface is that they won’t make good long term partners and Kenny has decided to leave the house.

I suspect that the reality is however that Kenny lost his chance with Rikaso on the movie night - much earlier.

And he lost his chance with Haruka too at the same time.

At the end of the episode he finally goes for the kiss with confidence - too forcefully if anything.
But of course he got rejected - it’s too late.

There are some basic skills that men must learn. Kenny needs them. Without these skills he turned two terrific opportunities that were there for the taking into failure.

This episode left a knot in my gut.

Maybe things will turn around for Kenny in the next episode. But I doubt it.

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 is on Netflix.

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 -
Kenny - Now we understand???

So in the last post we couldn’t work out why Kenny wouldn’t make a move on Risako.

All was revealed in episode 12.

The group are together in the dining room. Risako leaves for the games room, giving Kenny the hint to come and join her. As he gets up to follow one of the other guys reminds Kenny that he has to go and kiss her. Kenny says to the other guys ‘how do I do this’?

So as I suspected he lacks the skills to do this. He wasn’t leading Risako (or Haruka) on.

Okay. Well it would have been so much easier when they were together on the rooftop balcony in a hammock watching the movie. Now Kenny has dug himself into a hole that may be bit difficult to get out of.

Kenny - you have done all of us a service. We all screw up - it’s good to know that we are not alone.

Here is what I think Kenny needs to get out of this situation :

1. When they were eating watermelon together by the pool, Kenny helped Risako by gently putting her hair back behind her ear. More of that Kenny!
2. In the same scene he asked her to come and sit closer to him. More of that Kenny!
3. No more declarations of feelings. It’s just awkward - for you Kenny, Risako and all of us millions of viewers.
4. No more love songs on the Ukelele. It’s not necessary.
5. No more dates. She is already in the house with you. You just need to find a way to get close to her again. Taking her out to dinner will just put a table between you and her. That’s not what you need right now.

Try this Kenny: Get her back into the games room. Dig up a kart racing game on the playstation. Crash Team Racing looks good.
Play a few games of that. Get a fun vibe going. Make sure she is sitting really close.
When she is very happy - maybe after winning a race - that’s your moment.

Good luck Kenny!

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 is on Netflix.